The Guardian reports on problems faced by game makers on Android Market. Some independent developers are finding that their games are too easily copied and sold by competitors, and they say Google isn't reacting quickly enough to reports of infringement. Quoting:
"One of my customers emailed me three weeks ago, and informed me that another company was selling a version of my app – pirated and uploaded as their own. Of course I contacted Google right away. It took Google two days to take the app down. This publisher was also selling other versions of pirated games. I contacted the original developers of those games but they were still being sold a week later. You'd think [Google] might have a hotline for things like that! I would also note that the publisher selling the pirated games is still trading on the Android Market. They didn't even get their account suspended. … Why are these accounts still allowed to be trading? It's negligent as far as I'm concerned."
If you like your wallet, by all means, hold onto it. But if you’d like to travel lighter and worry about one less thing to remember, you can put replace most of your wallet’s functionality with your phone. Here’s how to switch over everything except your cash, and maybe one card.More »
Housing start-up Zillow just released a new product, Rent Zestimates, which will provide estimated rent prices for 90 million homes on both its website and all its mobile apps.
Seattle-based Zillow provides online real-estate price estimates and acts as a marketplace for renters, buyers and sellers.
According to the 2009 American Housing Survey from the U.S. Census, 70 percent of people who move each year are renters, making Zillow’s foray into the rental market a potential cash cow.
Of those renters, a recent survey by housing research think-tank Ipsos found that two-thirds of renters do not research what is a fair rental price before they sign their lease.
Zillow said it hopes to change that by offering Rent Zestimates’ estimated rent prices on specific homes or apartments, thereby leveling the playing field to make sure consumers aren’t paying too much for their new rental.
The company said Rent Zestimates will appear in search bubbles on homes available to rent, and on the main details page for nearly every home on Zillow, whether it’s on the market or not.
It currently has close to 300,000 apartments and homes listed for rent and consumers can search listings by number of bedrooms and bathrooms, square footage and monthly payment.
Users can find Rent Zestimates on map searches and individual home detail pages on Zillow.com and all Zillow mobile applications, including iPhone, iPad and Android apps.
“Buyers and renters are not exclusive categories – many people are considering both options when shopping for a new home. Similarly, many would-be sellers in today’s housing market are considering whether to become landlords rather than sell at a loss,” said Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff. “We created Rent Zestimates to empower people with information and data to make the right real estate decision for them.”
The company is also hoping to catch the eye of landlords who are intending to move out sometime in the next three years, helping them determine a fair price to charge when they do rent out their homes.
But it still faces stiff competition from other online home finders such as Trulia, which announced in January that it had teamed up with international home lister ListGlobally to begin offering rentals and houses for sale in 17 countries worldwide.
The company said that currently Zillow Mobile apps are used 6.5 million times each month, with more than 23 million visits to home detail pages –the equivalent of 32,000 home views every hour, or close to nine home views a second.
Housing start-up